1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a breast pump for extracting milk from a human breast and collecting the extracted milk in a receiving container. In particular, the present invention relates to a breast pump that can attach to an accessory hose from a household vacuum cleaner, thereby utilizing the vacuum cleaner pump as a suction source.
2. State of the Prior Art
Breast pumps are convenient for nursing mothers who require extracting their breast milk by artificial means which can be stored and later fed to the baby. They may also be required in some circumstances, for example, if the baby is temporarily unable to breastfeed, which can result in a loss of milk production in the breasts due to a decreased sucking stimulation. Breast pumps generally comprise a bell-shaped receiving device called a flange that attaches to the female breast and a milk receiving container that connects to the flange to temporarily store the milk after extraction. A vacuum source also connects to the flange to provide the negative pressure required to extract the milk. Different types of vacuum sources are commonly used in breast pumps, but most are either manually or electrically driven.
Manual breast pumps, including bulb, cylinder, and trigger pumps, are difficult to use because they require the active participation of the mother in squeezing or pulling a device to produce a momentary suction. Reports show that bulb pumps, due to the difficulty in sterilizing, harbor bacteria that can contaminate the expressed milk. Repeated manual pumping of these breast pumps is tiresome and requires exceptional strength in the hand and fingers. Furthermore, the suction produced is sometimes very weak which requires more time to extract the milk compared to some of the electrical pumps.
Electrically driven breast pumps are either battery or AC powered and are easier to use because they do not require active participation from the user to produce the suction. They have also been shown to express more milk that is higher in fat content compared to manual pumps. The basic types of electrically driven breast pumps are small air displacement and large air displacement pumps. Small air displacement electric breast pumps, such as the battery powered breast pumps, contain small motors that can take up to two minutes to generate their peak suction, therefore having a limited effectiveness in extracting milk. Large air displacement electric breast pumps, however, can generate their peak suction in less than a second, resulting in a nearly instantaneous suction and thus less time spent drawing milk. However, the large air displacement breast pumps are also the most expensive breast pumps available, and most are usually rented to mothers rather than purchased. Unfortunately, both types of electric breast pumps are much more expensive because the user must purchase the electric pump together with the flange and milk receiving container.
What is needed is a breast pump, preferably one comparable to the large air displacement breast pumps, that can be purchased separately from the suction source, thereby eliminating the user from having to purchase an expensive pump along with the flange and milk receiving container. Such a device will result in combining the efficiency and ease of use of the electric breast pumps with the affordability of the manual ones.